A current issue, for example, in electronic trading may be a lack of space on display screens of computing devices, such as desktop computers. For example, a user may have many screens open at the same time, each of which screens may be fully populated to the extent of being very crowded with trade monitors, prices, spreadsheets, curves, charts, trade blotters, P&Ls and the like. When that bulk of information is stretched to include multiple systems, there is an even more serious lack of desktop space. Thus, it is not surprising that users may ultimately find that there is little or no space on their display screens for one or more additional products which they may wish to include. That is a problem for both providers, such as financial institutions, who want users' screen space for their products and the users who are unable to receive all of the information they need.
Currently, a financial institution, such as a global bank, may provide a platform to its clients that delivers electronic access to the financial institution's capital markets services across equities, futures, FX, emerging markets, rates, credit, commodities, securities, municipals, prime, and research. Such a platform may allow clients of the financial institution ready access to proprietary data and analytics, financial institution research, and market commentary, as well as fast, seamless, and stable execution for FX and rates trade and a suite of sophisticated, post-trade analysis tools.
The platform may include features that provide a great deal of flexibility, such as windows and panes (e.g., parts of a sectioned window that provide additional information about a product) on a graphical display. For example, such platform may enable windows and panes to be created for different parts of a product allowing a user to create a flexible interface that enables the user to pick and choose what parts of the platform and/or what products the user actually wants to see on the user's display screen.
Such a platform may be very beneficial for the particular financial institution which may likely be in competition with others in the market for the limited space of the users' screens. For example, users may generally have multiple single-bank dealer platforms open on their screens at the same time and the platform's ability to have one window open at a time may allow the financial institution's platform to remain open on a user's display screen and allow such users, for example, to continue trading on the financial institution's platform.
However, users of the financial institution's platform may sometimes want to quickly launch a particular part of the financial institution's application. A user may have that particular part of the application in a user profile that the user may have already preset, but sometimes the user may want to easily access one product or visualize certain things or receive alerts, for example, when new axes or new trading information arrives. An “axe” is the interest that a person or trader shows in buying or selling a financial security. For example, if a trader holds a long position but has short-term concerns, that trader's “axe” toward short-term put options may be significant.
There is a need for a method and system for managing a graphical user interface that provides efficiency in the use of display screen space in a way that allows users, such as traders, a high degree of flexibility to customize their trading requirements around their day-to-day work requirements on their workstation, such as their desktops, that is not possible using existing graphical interface presentation methods and systems.